Coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are the gold standard for accurately measuring a wide variety of different types of physical objects/work pieces. For example, CMMs can measure critical dimensions of aircraft engine components (e.g., jet engine blades), surgical tools, and gun barrels. Precise and accurate measurements help ensure that their underlying systems, such as an aircraft in the case of aircraft components, operate as specified.
CMMs often quickly and efficiently measure objects having relatively simple geometries. For example, a CMM probe (i.e., the part of the CMM directly gathering the measurement data) typically can move relatively quickly around the outside surface of a uniform diameter gun barrel to gather the desired information. In such a case, the time to measure the gun barrel can be much less than the time to produce the gun barrel.
Objects with more complex geometries, however, can present a problem. For example, a jet engine blade often has an unusually complex geometry that complicates measurement. In that case, to ensure accurate measurements, the CMM probe often very slowly traverses about the blade. Undesirably, in some instances, the required time to measure a geometrically complex object can be unduly long; sometimes much longer than the time to manufacture the object itself. For example, the measurement time for objects having complex geometries may be three to five times longer than the manufacturing time.